Lorenzen Wright homicide: Sherra Wright pleads not guilty

Louise Vassar, grandmother of slain NBA player Lorenzen Wright, attends arraignment hearing for his ex-wife accused of killing him.
Vassar says she does not want Sherra Wright to get death penalty. "Let her live," Vassar said.
Yolanda Jones/The Commercial Appeal

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Sherra Wright, center, ex-wife of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright, appears in court on conspiracy and murder charges Monday morning with attorney Blake Ballin, right, who waived a formal reading of the indictment and entered a not guilty plea for her.(Photo: Jim Weber / The Commercial Appeal)Buy Photo

Lorenzen Wright's grandmother traveled from Oxford, Mississippi, to attend an arraignment hearing of his ex-wife Sherra Wright, who pleaded not guilty Monday in Memphis to charges in his 2010 killing.

Wearing black, Louise Vassar said she will attend every hearing.

"I will be here because that's my baby," she said of Lorenzen Wright, her first grandson. "This grandmother will be here," she said.

Vassar attended the short court appearance during which attorneys Blake Ballin and Steve Farese Jr., who have now been formally hired, entered the not guilty plea for Sherra Wright. The case was continued until March 19, when her co-defendant is due in court.

"We just got started today," said prosecutor Paul Hagerman. "It's going to be a long process."

Hagerman said an announcement on whether to seek the death penalty will be made at the next court date.

Vassar said Monday that she does not want Sherra Wright to get the death penalty.

"Let her live," she told reporters. "And may God bless, and that's all I have to say."

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Major Darren Goods, Operations Commander for the Multi-Agency Gang Unit, speaks during a press conference about the arrest of Sherra Wright, the ex-wife of slain former NBA player Lorenzen Wright.
Brad Vest/The Commercial Appeal

The body of Wright, 34, was found in southeast Memphis in July 2010, and investigators found evidence of different caliber shell casings at the scene. Wright apparently called 911 shortly after midnight on July 19, 2010, from a field near TPC Southwind golf course. An autopsy on his badly decomposed body found gunshot wounds to the head, chest and forearm.

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Sherra Wright, center, ex-wife of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright, appears in court on conspiracy and murder charges Monday morning with attorney Steve Farese Jr., right, who waived a formal reading of the indictment and entered a not guilty plea for her.(Photo: Jim Weber / The Commercial Appeal)

The arrests of Turner and Sherra Wright came late last year after police announced in November that a gun they believed was used in the killing was recovered. Authorities located the gun in a Walnut, Mississippi, lake on County Road 302 about 50 miles east of Olive Branch.

On Monday, family members of Lorenzen Wright were tearful at the courthouse.

"The family has been emotional every time I've seen them," Hagerman said. "They've waited for years now for some justice. ... I know it's taken too long to solve this case and too long to get it here. But everybody is going to make sure they do their jobs."

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Sherra Wright's attorneys address reporters after entering a not guilty plea for her on charges in the death of her ex-husband Lorenzen Wright.
Katie Fretland/The Commercial Appeal

Farese, one of Sherra Wright's attorneys, said his client is doing "remarkably well."

He said that all she thinks about are her children.

"I think she's doing a lot better than I would be, given the circumstances," he said.

The lawyers will comb through the evidence in the case over the coming months.

"The limited knowledge that I have is there are recordings out there," Farese said. "And whether those came from someone wearing a wire or someone tapping a telephone or recording a conversation from a one-way standpoint, I don't know."

Ballin said they will see what the government's position is on the death penalty before they can address bond.

He encouraged the public to wait to hear the facts about the case.

"This is an old, complicated and very popular case," Ballin said. "There's a lot of speculation out there. It's hard for myself as a member of the public to not try to speculate and start to think about what the evidence may be. Until you hear it from the horse's mouth I would just caution the public not to draw any conclusions."